Understanding and addressing your psoas issues: back pain lower back pain and anterior pelvic tilt

This article is suitable for beginners and above.

Content Tags: Body Shaping

Reading Time: 7 minutes

 

As long as you step into a gym, you will see a lot of equipment used to train the upper limbs, back, core area, and lower limbs. But you will rarely find equipment specifically for training the iliopsoas muscle—people tend to focus on exercising the large muscle groups on the surface of the body and neglect the deep iliopsoas muscle.

 

Introducing the Iliopsoas Muscle

The iliopsoas muscle is composed of the psoas major and iliacus muscles. The psoas major is located on both sides of the lumbar spine, originating from the back and connecting the lumbar spine to the inner side of the femur. Uniquely, it originates from the twelfth thoracic vertebra and the sides of the five lumbar vertebrae, merges with the iliacus muscle at the pelvis, and finally attaches to the inner side of the lesser trochanter of the femur.

Although we cannot see the iliopsoas muscle on the surface of the body, many daily activities cannot be performed well without it, such as walking, running, and bending over to pick up things from the ground.

 

Is the Iliopsoas Muscle Really That Important?

Although the iliopsoas muscle is not omnipotent, its health significantly affects functional movements, pain, posture issues, and muscle strength imbalances in the body.

   

Tight or weak iliopsoas muscles can have serious consequences, potentially leading to poor body posture such as anterior pelvic tilt or hyperextension of the knee, which can further cause pain and reduced joint mobility.

 

Is Your Iliopsoas Muscle Healthy?

Nowadays, many office workers sit in front of computers for hours, and this sedentary lifestyle can lead to tight iliopsoas muscles. Excessive exercise can also overstimulate and inflame the iliopsoas muscle, potentially causing iliopsoas syndrome. Additionally, frequent sit-ups or cycling can cause damage due to overuse of the iliopsoas muscle.

 

 

So, is your iliopsoas muscle healthy? You can evaluate it with the following two tests.

 

Modified Thomas Test(Assessing the flexibility of the iliopsoas muscle)

Procedure for the Thomas Test: Choose a table or lay a mat on the ground and lie flat on it. Lift one leg, hold the knee with both hands and lift it until the lower back is fully in contact with the ground and the raised thigh is close to the abdomen. If the other leg lifts slightly, it indicates poor flexibility of the iliopsoas muscle. If the knee of the other leg bends, it indicates that the rectus femoris (part of the quadriceps) also has poor flexibility.

 

Starting position: Lie on the ground with your back straight, feet apart and shoulder-width apart. Completely relax your back, allowing it to naturally curve without deliberately arching or pressing it against the ground.

Hold one knee with both hands and pull it towards your chest. At this point, your back should flatten and fully contact the ground.

Carefully observe the movement of the lower limbs. The knee-holding action will cause a slight tilt of the pelvis, but if the iliopsoas muscle is flexible, the other leg will not flex at the hip or knee. If it does, you should include flexibility exercises for the iliopsoas muscle in your training plan.

 

Wall Standing Test(Assessing the strength of the iliopsoas muscle)

One function of the iliopsoas muscle is to flex the hip joint. It is important to note that a tight, shortened iliopsoas muscle is not the same as a strong iliopsoas muscle. To assess the strength of the iliopsoas muscle, you can flex your hip joint and see if you quickly feel fatigued. When evaluating the iliopsoas muscle, make sure to wear loose clothing, as tight pants may lead to incorrect conclusions about your muscle strength or flexibility.

 

Starting position: Stand against a wall with your feet apart and shoulder-width apart.

Slowly lift one knee until the thigh is parallel to the ground, and hold this position for 30 seconds.

If you can easily complete this test, it indicates that your iliopsoas muscle and its synergistic muscles are strong.

 

If you cannot successfully complete the above two tests, the following two exercises can help you improve.

 

Iliopsoas Muscle Flexibility Training

Standing Leg Swings

Starting position: Stand next to a chair or wall, lightly holding the back of the chair or wall with one hand.

A. Tighten your abdomen, lift the leg farthest from the chair or wall, and swing it back and forth. Keep your upper body straight and avoid tilting or rotating the pelvis. Ensure the movement is driven by the hip, not the thigh.

B. One back-and-forth swing counts as one repetition. Repeat 10 times, then switch legs and repeat the above actions.

Correct execution of this exercise should make your hips and buttocks feel slightly warm.

 

Inner Thigh Stretch

Starting position: Sit with your knees bent and opened to the sides, the soles of your feet touching each other. Keep your upper body straight and tighten your abdomen.

A. Hold your ankles with both hands, place your elbows on the thighs above the knees. Keep your back straight and gently press your legs towards the ground. Although the range of motion may seem small to others, you should feel a stretch. Hold for 1-2 seconds, then return to the starting position. Use gentle, smooth force for both pressing down and returning, avoiding bouncing movements.

B. Repeat the above actions 8-10 times, pressing deeper each time.

Correct execution of this exercise should make you feel a gentle stretch on the inner thighs.

 

Iliopsoas Muscle Strength Training

Seated V-Shape

Starting position: Sit on the edge of a chair, with your hips fully on the chair but far from the backrest. Extend your legs fully in front of you, with your feet on the ground.

A. Contract your abdominal muscles and lean your body back while keeping your back straight. At this point, you will feel the iliopsoas muscle contract. Hold this position for a count of ten.

B. Return to the starting position.

C. Repeat the above actions 3-5 times.

Correct execution of this exercise should make you feel a slight contraction of the abdominal muscles.

 

Captain's Chair

Starting position: Place your forearms on the pads of a captain's chair. If you don't have a captain's chair, you can use a regular chair. Let your legs hang down.

A. Contract your abdominal muscles and pull your knees towards your chest until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hold this position for 5 seconds.

B. Lower your legs and repeat the above actions 10-15 times.

Correct execution of this exercise should make you feel the contraction of the abdominal muscles and hip flexors.

Core stability is defined as the ability to control the position and movement of the trunk to exert control over force generation and transmission, posture changes, and control during integrated sports activities.

 

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The above content is from

"Iliopsoas Muscle Strength and Flexibility Training: Exercises and Program Design for Posture Correction and Injury Prevention"

Published by People's Posts and Telecommunications Press